The Future of Rural Retail

Plunkett UK is consulting with a wide range of stakeholders to better understand the challenges of rural community shops and identify solutions to help them become more resilient, thriving and inclusive for the future.

The situation

When the early community shops were established 25 years ago, their key role centred around access to food for people in rural communities – bringing a vital lifeline of basic groceries. Today, following the explosion of supermarket delivery services, many community shops have innovated to become more than a traditional convenience grocery store.

Recently, changes within the wholesale and distribution industries have put at risk the ability for some community shops to continue sourcing core grocery goods. This has led us to consider rural retailing, specifically community-owned shops: the issues they face, the solutions needed and, ultimately, what the future may look like.

Our response

Plunkett UK has consulted key organisations in UK rural retailing – grocery suppliers, support organisations, fellow retailers, wholesalers, government – regarding the future of the sector.

They have told us their experiences, made suggestions about the evolving shape of rural retail and proposed some solutions.

We will also consult the Plunkett Adviser Team – a network of 50 industry experts – and invite them to reflect on the thoughts of both community shop and wider retail network insights.

Event series: share your opinion

Our next step is to invite the community shop sector (and community businesses with retail elements) to participate in an event series. In these online and in-person workshops, we will share insights from the wider retail network, and hear the opinions, thoughts, ideas and experiences of community retailers across the UK, to ask what they believe the future of rural retailing should look like.

Be part of this sector-forming research, have your community’s voice heard, and join us at one of the following events!

Online
Tuesday 25 February, 10am – 12:15pm

Exeter
Thursday 27 February, 2:30 – 5:30pm

Seminar Rooms 2-5, Sandy Park, Sandy Park Way, Exeter EX2 7NN

Central Manchester
Wednesday 5 March, 12.45 – 3.45pm

Co-operatives UK Limited, Hanover Street Manchester M60 0AS

Online
Thursday 6 March, 5:30 – 7:45pm

Sussex
Friday 7 March, 12:45 – 3:45pm

Woodgate Hub, 4 Grace Holland Avenue, Pease Pottage RH11 9GT

What happens next?

Content from the event series, alongside short essays, will be used to form ‘The Future of Rural Retail Report’, which will be published Spring 2025. This will mould the work undertaken by Plunkett to support 400+ community shops nationwide.

This event series and report is generously funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.